The Blue Ocean
by Markoose
Summary: Mark is a mutant, and when he is kidnapped and taken to America, his whole life is thrown upside down, making friends, meeting lovers, reuniting with old aquantinces. Kurt X OC, Alex X OC...Please review!
1. The Dark Stranger

**1**

**The Dark Stranger**

The dark night wasn't exactly cold, but it sent a shiver down Mark's spine nonetheless. England wasn't particularly well known for nice weather, and lately, it wasn't particularly well known for its nice people. Drunken teens on every corner and every park made things pretty intimidating, even on a good night. However, now there were the Friends of Humanity that targeted mutants and did everything in there power to snuff them out, thinking they were a menace.

Mark was a mutant. When he was younger, he was bullied at school. He never really made friends, and so he was an easy target. The memories of what happened the day he found out he was a mutant still haunted him.

The bullies were pestering him again. Mark tried his best to ignore them. That's what the teacher's always said, they always told him to ignore them and they would get bored of him. Either that or stop acting like such a target.

"Hey! Loner! Where you goin'? Off to see your mummy? Off to see your boyfriend? Aww…are you gonna cry?"

Mark did his best to ignore them. What they were saying couldn't hurt him, or at least, that's what he was telling himself.

"Hey! Fuckface! Don't walk away from us while we are talking to you! Haven't you got any manners?" more and more of the bullies joined in. "Gay boy! Where you going? If you don't stop I'm gunna fucking DECK YA!" just ignore them, they're just words.

True, they had just been words, but they were words with meaning, and not the meaning Mark thought they meant. All of this following was just a way to get Mark in the right spot. To herd the victim to the actual danger.

As Mark rounded a corner, he was faced by one of the bully's with a bucket. The bucket was full, but with what? At first Mark thought it was water, but as it was thrown through the air towards him he noticed a distinctive yellowy tint in it. They had just thrown pee at him.

The next few moments went by like a dream, the part where you're almost awake and can't quite remember what happened. Well, at least it did for the bullies.

In mid air, the piss stopped. It just floated, suspended by something, something invisible. Then, it was hurled back at the bully holding the bucket, hitting him with such force he was knocked a few feet back. The pee has actually cut the bullies skin, and now it was inside him, stinging and the bucket had dropped next to Mark.

"Good god! Mark! What did you do? What's happened here?" cried a teacher from the distance, just appearing on the scene. It was Mrs Saunders, not one of Mark's favourite teachers, but definitely one of the funniest (not that she knew it).

"Ooh! Get to my room. Now!" she shouted, helping the little shitface that had thrown, and gotten hit by, the magic piss up to his feet, probably to get him to the nurse.

The rest of the day didn't go well, nor did school in general for a while. Mark was blamed for the whole thing by the bullies. They said that the one who was hit had already been cut because he fell off his bike or something stupid like that. Then they said that he had thrown piss on him just to make him suffer. What complete and utter bollocks!

But now Mark knew he had, ability's, that other people didn't have. Over the next few years he experimented with his powers. He could control any liquid. He didn't understand it, but he could. If it was one particular type of liquid like water for example then it might make sense, but none of these liquids he could manipulate shared the same chemical build up or whatever (He was never good at science).

Luckily, he knew he wasn't alone. Everyone knew about the X-Men, defenders of humanity. They stood up for the humans, even though mutants were technically humans too. They took beatings from the Friends of Humanity, just like Mark did from the bully's.

As comforting as this was, there was also a bad side. With the heroes, came the villains. Everyone knew about the Brotherhood of Mutants too. Last year was when thins were worst. A major pharmaceutical company had created what they called 'a Cure for the mutant gene'. This caused the brotherhood to attack the main building located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco.

Not only did they attack, but the mutant who went by the name of Phoenix destroyed the entire facility and killed hundreds of humans and mutants alike. This is what created the Friends of Humanity.

Some of the survivors from the Alcatraz incident supported the X-Men and claimed that they tried their best to save as many people as possible, standing up to the terrifying force of the Brotherhood.

Other's claimed that they only wanted to save the mutants and had no regard for the humans. Some even said that they killed humans if they got in their way.

Afterwards the X-Men didn't appear in public as often, which affected many. It gave the Brotherhood a chance to attack more, and it caused people like Mark to loose faith.

Now Mark was on the run, from his own family. He had been caught practicing with his powers and his very conservative father had lost it.

"We can't have a Mutant in the family! Get out!"

No mater how much his mother pleaded, his dad wasn't going to change his mind. Mark didn't care; he didn't want to stay in the same house as that man. He didn't want to stay anywhere near someone that would throw out their own son just because he was gifted.

Even with the streetlights shining above him, the path was darkened and frightening. Constantly thinking he heard footsteps behind him, Mark spent most of the time looking behind him. When he turned back to look in front of him, there was a man stood in front of him.

Mark nearly jumped out of his skin. He looked up to the strangers face slowly, expecting to see some deranged ugly form that was going to pounce on him. That's exactly what was there. He leaped back as the stranger lunged towards him. Before he had left his house, he had filled a bottle with water in case he needed it. Just as he reached for it, someone else emerged from the darkness. The second stranger ran at Mark's attacker and knocked him down. The stranger ran off, leaving Mark and his rescuer behind.

"You okay?" he asked.

Mark looked up at the stranger. He was the complete opposite of the first stranger. He was young and handsome, with light brown hair, styled to perfection. He was tall, but not much taller than Mark, and he was toned, but not over-muscular.

"Hey? Are you okay?" he repeated.

"Oh, yeah, thanks." Mark said, still slightly bewildered.

"What's with the bottle?" he asked, looking at the bottle of water in Mark's hand.

"Oh, just in case I need a drink." He said, taking a swig, covering up that he was a mutant.

"Right…you know you shouldn't be out this late."

"Yeah I know." Mark said, starting to walk along the path. The stranger stayed with him.

"So, where you headed? I'll walk you there."

"That's very sweet of you, but I can handle myself."

"Sure, can I walk with you anyway?"

"I suppose…"

They walked a little way in silence, neither really knowing what to say to each other. Mark just looked at the floor and he could swear he felt the stranger's eyes on him.

"So then, what you doing out so late?" asked the stranger.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Fair enough…My name's Jake." He said, holding his hand out to shake with Mark. Mark took his hand warily.

"That's nice." He said, unsure whether he should tell Jake his name.

"My name's …Dave…David."

Jake looked at him as though he didn't believe him for a second, but after a moment he just moved on with the conversation.

"So then…Dave…anyone special in your life?"

"I'm sorry?" Mark was quite taken aback with what he had just been asked.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"Um…No…"

"Cool…I'm just making conversation"

As they walked Mark looked for any reason to get away. He liked this Jake guy, but he was a little intimidating. Then he saw it, his way out. He saw a small poster stuck on a lamp post, this was his destination. It read:

MUTANT?

Are you afraid of what people might think of you?

Come to our help sessions, on the hour every hour, even the late ones.

We never shut our doors to those in need.

Find us at the H.E.D.C.A. building.

The H.E.D.C.A. building wasn't far from where they were. Mark didn't want Jake to follow him there so he decided to try and get rid of him.

"Look, thanks for saving me and everything, but I'm just going down here. It's not far for me to go. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure, it really is no trouble."

"No, I'm fine."

"Ok…give us a hug." Jake said. He opened his arms, waiting for Mark.

"Um…ok…" he slowly moved closer and hugged the tall, handsome stranger. His arms were so strong and warm; he just wanted to stay in them forever. They held each other for a while, before Mark looked up at Jake, only to find him looking down at him. Jake moved closer, and Mark let him, closer and closer, then, they kissed.

The kiss was amazing; it filled Mark with warmth on the cold night. The held it for a long time, even though it seemed like a few seconds. Then Mark pulled away, what was he doing? He'd only just met this guy.

"I…I should"

"Sorry…yeah…"

"I should really go…" he mumbled "Bye"

"See you around…" Jake called.

"Maybe"


	2. Friends Of Humanity

**2**

**Friends of Humanity**

It wasn't long before Mark was at the building on the poster, would they really be able to help him? He didn't have to go, he could still walk away. No, he needed help, he was alone with no-where to go. No-where except here.

The doors were open and there were lights on inside. Mark saw a clock on the wall in the entrance; it was nearly 11 o'clock, what timing. There were arrows pointing to one of the rooms off of the main corridor, the door was open.

Mark walked slowly in. There were a few people sat on chairs that all looked towards the front. That was odd, don't these sorts of things have chairs in a circle…oh well. The usher at the door was a short smiley woman with rosy cheeks, a bob cut and small eyes behind big square glasses. She was wearing a thick woollen jumper, completely green. She must have been boiling.

"Ooh!" she said in a squeaky voice that reminded him of his old teacher Mrs. Saunders. "Your just in time, the doors were about to shut. Do make yourself at home as best you can, there will be refreshments later." So much for the whole 'we never shut our doors'.

Mark took a seat near the back, right on the aisle. After a moments pause there were footsteps from behind Mark. The doors clanged shut behind the sound of the person who had just come in. he could swear he heard another clang from the direction of the doors but he couldn't be sure because the usher let out an almighty sneeze.

There was a rush of air as a tall figure walked past Mark, heading towards the front. They wore a particularly unstylish beret that slanted slightly from its resting place on the figures head. They wore some camo jeans and a blue fleece. The man began to speak as he walked down towards the front, his voice strikingly familiar. Mark knew what was happening before it actually began. He rose from his seat as the words from the figure reached his ears.

"Don't try to run; we have at least one gun on each of you!"

There was a gasp as the stranger reached the front and spun around on the spot. His jumper had a horrible emblem on it that struck fear in Mark's heart. Above the emblem were the initials F.O.H. It was the Friends of Humanity. A great statue was revealed at the front of the room which showed a man standing on a pile of deformed bodies. The man was his Father, and he wasn't at all surprised. From the moment he had recognised his voice he knew this meeting was not to help. His dad would never want to help.

All this he could live with…well for the time being he could. What really winded him was the accomplice moving towards his father. The face that had just connected with his a few moments ago, Jake was a member of the Friends of Humanity.

"You all know why you are here yes?"

Mark called annoyingly towards his dad. "No, sorry dad, could you remind me."

He had clearly shocked his father by being there. He looked up at him with shock and then the expression melted as though it was never there. Jake looked just as shocked, but Mark didn't want to look at him, and he made a point of making him see this.

"Please…do you really think I'd have a freak like you for a son?" said Mark's father. He paused to let that string of conversation fade away before continuing. "Yes, you are all here, because you are vermin, scum, and lower life! You filthy shits think you can take this planet?"

"Were from this planet you prat!" Mark shouted, the other mutants looking at him, some like he was crazy, and some like he was the bravest thing they had ever seen.

"You are skanky, dirty, fuckers and you all need to be punished, just for living, breathing our air!"

One of the other mutants joined in with Mark. "You call this living? Every day we are hunted and beaten like…"

"Like the filth that you are!"

"Tell me dad? Are you going to kill us today? If so… what are you going to tell Mum when I never come home?"

"YOU ARE NO SON OF MINE!!!" he roared, the sheer force of the sound knocked Mark off his feet, several others sat straight back down after having stood to support the boy.

This reaction presented Mark with a plan, if he could only get close enough. He unscrewed the top of his bottle lid, hoping no-one would see. Concentrating as hard as he could, he pulled out a small slither of liquid. He pushed the water against his skin, and forcing it into a point he cut open a small gash in his wrist, enough to let the blood flow, but not enough to kill him. Then he dropped the water, but slid the bottle into his pocket, leaving the lid off.

"This blood!" he began, spinning slowly so everyone could see "This blood runs through both our veins! The same blood!" while Mark span, he managed to count all of the F.O.H. members in the room, 17 members, 14 of them with weapons. "We are the same" he continued, now moving towards his father, looking him in the eye, unflinchingly. "Whether you like it or not!"

One of the armed men hesitated, his gun trained on Mark. "Uh…Sir? What do you want me to do?"

"Leave this troublemaker for me. MEN, GET THE OTHERS, NO DEATHS, WE NEED TO INTERROGATE THEM FIRST!!!" He signalled as the soldiers all moved in on the other helpless mutants, well they weren't exactly helpless, they had their powers.

"Everyone, use your powers to win!" called Mark as he moved closer to his father, drawing out all of the water in his bottle. He formed it into a light blue whip and swung at his father. All around them the mutants were doing their best to fight the oncoming threat.

Marks dad flipped out a small knife and lunged at his son. Spreading the water out he created a small shield that deflected the blow. The had holding the knife was knocked back, but then the other span round in a fist, hitting Mark square in the chest, hurling him back.

Mark looked around; he needed something more substantial to fight with. He looked over to the refreshments table and found a jug of orange juice waiting to be controlled. He pulled it out of its container and added it to his small collection of water. Then he noticed a large tank of water for serving drinks from. Concentrating as hard as he could, he made the tankard explode, causing the liquid inside to rush towards him.

With his dad advancing on him, Mark hurled a great wave of water at his face, knocking him off his feet.

"BRING IT IN! THE…SENTINEL" he spluttered.

Two of the Friends of Humanity ran to a side door and began to pull it open. Mark span to look and saw Jake helping open the door. The room beyond was dark, except for two bright yellow lights shining out, two eyes.

There was a blast of red that shot out from the room that nearly hit Mark, it flew past him, burning his face, and hit a fellow mutant behind him. Summoning all his strength and concentration, he started relentlessly hitting the form in the darkness. Another blast flew at Mark, and it would have hit him in the face if he hadn't dived out of the way.

The body started to move out of the room and into the light. It was a robot! Mark had seen these things on the news, but the ones he saw were much bigger, this one was small and thin and looked like a woman! She walked menacingly towards Mark. He used the water to hit the door and knock it open.

"Get out of here! NOW!" he shouted to the others. Then he went back to attacking it with everything he had. It got closer and closer to him, nothing hurting it, nothing even getting through. It lunged at him and grabbed his neck, lifting him off the floor.

"You fool! You cannot kill it! Sooner or later, you'll run out of energy!" jeered his father from the sidelines.

Mark lifted his legs and kicked at the plastic form, knocking himself away from the robotic attacker. It leaped at him, forcing him to dodge, barely missing. The sentinel then rebounded on the wall, staying low. Mark managed to leap above its speeding body. It stood up and grabbed his arms from behind and span, hurling him into a collection of chairs.

Marks dad spoke as the robotic woman advanced.

"Idiot, what did you really hope to accomplish? This was just one location for catching mutant scum, there will be another! We will end your kind! And what of you?" the sentinel began to charge her hand blaster "You have lost **everything**"

Mark evaluated the situation, he could roll out of the way of the blast, but where to? The door was covered by F.O.H. members so he couldn't escape that way. He saw a pistol that had been dropped by one of the fighting enemies. This was the only way.

The sentinel shot and Mark dodged. He grabbed the pistol mid-roll and stood, aiming. He squeezed the trigger and let a bullet speed towards one of the sentinel's eyes. She jumped back in shock and clawed at the hole in her circuitry. Mark summoned his water and used it to pull the statue at the front of the room over. It seemed to fall so slowly, but it landed on the robot with a satisfying crunch. There were sparks as the head of the beast fell from its neck and rolled over to Mark's feet.

"No… I haven't…"

There was a sudden warmth of breath on his neck as someone spoke.

"Sorry bout this" Jake whispered.

The warmth was followed by a sudden cold as his face was covered by a funky smelling cloth. Everything went dark and then there was a vast and enveloping silence that swallowed him.


	3. The Escape

**3**

**The Escape**

Mark woke up in a dark, smelly, damp space. At first he thought it was his bedroom, but on closer inspection, it didn't have enough clothes on the floor, in fact there were none. He was in some sort of cell. There was a small hole in the wall, covered in bars to stop him escaping.

He sat there for days, disturbed only by the dinners he was passed under the door and the occasional 'guarded' drink. After they found out his power no-one would let him near water without proper protection. After what seemed like a few weeks in the cell, there was a creak as the door opened. Someone walked in and shut the door behind them.

"I won't be long, go away." Said the voice, it was Jake.

"What do you want with me?"

"First of all, I want to know if you're ok" he said, looking out of the small window in the door to check if the guard had left.

"Excuse me? That's even worse then 'Anyone special in your life?'"

"Look, Mark. I'm sorry, let me explain."

"Ah…does my father finally admit he has a son then?" asked Mark, walking over to a small iron bed in the corner of the room, sitting and folding his arms in a huff.

"What?"

"I told you my name was Dave… you just called me Mark."

"Oh, no…I looked at your profile. Anyway, you weren't very convincing."

"Whatever." He said, shrugging him off. "Anyway… explain, I'm all ears, I wouldn't miss this for all the tea in china!" he said, moving to the edge of his bed and pretending to look interested with an obvious overdose of sarcasm.

"Oh, well…when I was young, I was out with my mother and father. There was an attack. Some mutants were hiding and what was to become the Friends of Humanity were hunting them. They set off an explosion to try and kill the mutants. The mutants saved me and my father, but they couldn't save my mother. Dad always blamed the mutants for being there, not the humans for doing it. He forced me to join when I was young. I've always hated it…"

"Oh please…you expect me to believe that you just never got around to leaving? Grow up"

"No, I stayed on purpose." This shut Mark up. "I thought that I could do my part to help mutants."

"How the hell did last night help us?"

"Let me finish! When I met you, when you were attacked, I was out pulling down the posters. I hear things from inside and do what I can to stop them."

Mark paused while he thought about what Jake was saying. It was all perfectly plausible and believable. Could he trust this guy?

"Ok, lets say I trust you, for the moment This doesn't mean you can start kissing me again. Ok?"

"All right"

"Good, now…are you going to get me out of here?"

"Not just yet, sorry. You'll be safe for the mean time though."

A sudden wave of seriousness washed over Mark, who stood up and moved over to Jake. He stood next to him and looked up into his deep blue eyes.

"Thank you, I'm sorry about what happened to your mother."

"It's ok."

"No, really" he said, pulling Jake down to kiss him tenderly on the lips to say thank you.

"I thought you said no kisses?"

"I lied." He said before kissing Jake again.

Jake pulled away. "I can get you out, but not yet."

He went on to explain the plan in detail to Mark, who listened intently. First Mark would wit until there was a shift change, then Jake would get him out of the cell he was in, then there would be a few minutes for them to get to the air ducts, where they could crawl to a sub-junction and make it outside then escape.

"Good idea" Mark started "but I have a better plan, one where it doesn't involve you leading me into a trap!"

Mark had known all along that Jake would try to double cross him, mainly by the syringe he had kept hidden behind his back. Although Mark had not seen it, he could feel the liquid held inside.

Jake leaped up and pulled the syringe into plain sight. "What are you going to do? There's no water in here! We made sure of it!"

"Are you all that stupid?" Mark said, causing Jake to put on a rather confused expression. "Humans…and mutants alike…are 80 water, and I can use any liquid, so that must be…a whole lot of human I can control!" as Mark finished what he was saying he pointed his hand at Jake and lifted him into the air, then with an almighty thud, Mark's captor was throne into the door, knocking it off its hinges.

Mark ran for it, any guards trying to stop him would either be thrown aside, or in the path of oncoming bullets.

The outside was so fresh, and after all of the time Mark had spent in his cell the sun was overpowering. He found himself in a forest. The tree's were tall and the ground was covered in twigs and leaves, making him easy to trace.

Only a little way into the wilderness, Mark heard voices coming his way. Above him was a tree covered in vines and, thinking of the water in the vines, Mark made them move down and pull him up to cover.

A small group of humans came into the area, all holding pistols. Mark knew that he needed more defence than his powers and so he decided to take the soldiers. Summoning the vines to his side, he grabbed two by the legs, leaving them to dangle upside-down. He then pulled the last one up to his height and began to question him.

"Is anyone else coming?"

"Filthy mutant"

"Ill ask again, is anyone else coming?"

"Fuck you!"

Mark moved the water in the mercenary's body, causing him to scream out in agony.

"Sorry but my patience is wearing thin…this is your last chance, is there anyone else coming?"

The human paused, still unwilling, until Mark sighed and made the gesture he did before to cause the pain, then he blurted the answer.

"No! no-ones coming." He said, looking as though he thought that talking to a mutant was as bad as swallowing a stink bug from hell.

"Good…where are we?"

"Go to hell!"

Mark squeezed.

"Where are we?"

"America, a mutant holding facility. That's all I know, I swear."

Mark paused, thinking whether or not to believe the man.

"Alright…I'm convinced."

Then he reached out with his free hand and pulled the gun from the man's hand.

"Thanks!" he said, nodding slightly, before he pushed the soldier away, into the trees and out of his sight. The then lowered himself out of the tree, taking a second pistol from one of the others on the way.

"HELP!" cried one of the guards, hoping others would hear. Soon after, one guard came rushing onto the scene. Mark was waiting for him, pointing the pistols in his direction.

"Before you shoot, how about we make this fair? No guns, no powers."

They both lowered their weapons, placing them on the floor. The guard immediately ran at Mark, leaping at his legs. Mark managed to dive over him, rolling back up he faced the guard again, only to find him grabbing for one of the pistols on the floor.

Mark ran towards the soldier who span and shot. The boy managed to slide under his aim and kick up, knocking the gun out of his hand and forcing him over. He stood up and looked at the crumpled form on the floor.

There was a click and Mark felt the barrel of a gun on the back of his head. He flinched slightly at the feel of it, and even more at the voice that followed. It was once again Jake's.

"Here we are again"

"Let me go Jake, I don't want to hurt you again"

"What if I do? Where would you go?"

"I'd stop people like you do what you've done to me, and nothing will change that, even if it means dying."

"Don't be absurd, no cause is worth dying for."

Mark took a deep breath to calm himself for what he was about to do, then he spoke.

"Yes…it is."

Jake pulled the trigger, but Mark had already moved, he dove out of the way, only to end up looking down the barrel of the gun that was held at him. The trigger was pulled again, but Mark moved forward, knocked the gun so it missed, then grabbed it and elbowed Jake in the face.

Jake then pulled out a second pistol from his holster. Mark leaped over a fallen tree for cover as Jake empted his clip pointlessly, then he threw the gun down and ran as Mark emerged from behind the felled trunk.

There was an almighty roar as someone from within the woods shot something a little more 'heavy duty' at Mark. He span to see a bazooka missile launching at him. there was nothing he could do, the explosion would kill him, he wouldn't be able to get far enough away!

Suddenly there was a strange sound as everything went dark. It felt as though a great weight was pressing down on his chest. The wind was squeezed from his lungs and Mark thought he was dead. Then everything came back. He felt breath in his lungs, he saw light in the air and there was another faint 'bamf' sound, followed by a rather loud explosion in the distance.

The shock was too much for Mark, that and the lack of sleep and food and drink, and he passed out in someone's arms.


	4. We Are The XMEN

**4**

**We Are The X-MEN**

Mark slowly woke up from his slumber. What had just happened? Where was he? Who had saved him? All of these questions, the boy had no answers to. He looked around, he was in a high tech looking medical facility. Machines were bleeping around him, and lights were flashing, dials whirring. A voice rang out in the room from behind where he was laying.

"Nice to see you awake." Said a woman, clearly walking towards him. She came into view, looking down caringly at Mark. She had white hair, not grey, brilliant white, and she was dark skinned. "My name is Ororo Monroe, but everybody here just calls me Storm"

"Where is here?" asked Mark, sliding up to a sitting position.

"This is the Xavier Mansion."

"I've seen you on the telly, you're part of the X-MEN aren't you? I'm Mark by the way." Mark said, running his hand through his hair.

"Nice to meet you Mark. Can I ask what you were doing in those woods" she asked, doing tests on Mark to check he was all right.

"I was taken there, by the Friends of Humanity." He said.

Storm stopped what she was doing and looked at Mark with shock.

"What? I thought you knew…"

"We knew they were close, but not this close, we had no idea that's who you were fighting, the soldiers were purposefully unmarked. Kurt said he couldn't tell who they were."

"Kurt?"

"He's the one who saved you, and brought you here."

Storm carried on with her check up, and when they were done, she took him on a tour of the mansion. First she showed him the upper floors, saying it would be best to leave the sub-basement till later. The building itself was beautiful, especially the grounds. There were teens playing on the basketball court, sitting by the pool, walking together and chatting.

Inside was just like a really big home for a really big family. There was a library, a lounge, a kitchen, a study, all that sort of stuff. Storm took Mark up to the bedrooms to let him have a look at the rooms that he would be perfectly welcome to stay in. they moved down a corridor and stopped outside a door. The woman knocked on it, and soon there was a quiet 'come in' from within the room.

Storm opened the door and let Mark in.

"Mark, this is Kurt, he's the one who found you."

Sat on the bed in the far end of the room, was a boy, roughly the same age as Mark, probably a little older. He had shoulder length hair with a blue tint, and was huddled up at the head of the single bed. All this was very good, but there was something else, he was blue, with pointy ears and a tail! As soon as he saw Mark he leaped up to come over and greet him.

"Hi, I'm Kurt, Kurt Wagner, I'm glad to see your ok." He said, shaking Mark's hand. His hand was fluffy and he only had three fingers

"Pleased to meet you" said Mark, not wanting to be impolite.

"Kurt offered to share his room with you if you decide to stay." Said Storm.

"Oh, thank you." Said Mark. Surprised at how unbothered he was with the blue furry man. "I really don't have any reason not to, there's nothing left for me out there."

"What about your family? Your mum and dad must be worried." Said Kurt.

"Somehow I don't think my dad will be." Said Mark, looking up to see a puzzled complexion on Kurt's face. "Long story." He added.

"Good, so you're staying, it's always nice to see a new face." Said Storm, beginning to walk off. "Lets finish the tour then, just the sub-basement left"

Storm took Mark down in the lift to the lower floors, back to all the high tech gadgets and machinery. She walked him through the main purposes and goals of the X-MEN, she showed him the war room, the hangar, the brig. Mark was astounded by the secrecy, and the wonders of having an underground secret base under his feet. The tour ended in Cerebro, where Storm explained how they were not alone in the fight for Mutant freedom, yes some would try to stop them.

"In time Mark, maybe you could become one of the X-MEN; help us get the peace we deserve."

"I'd love to" he replied.

"Good, now let's get you moved in to your new room."

"Seeing as I haven't got any stuff, I guess I'm already done." Said Mark.

"Ahh"

Mark went to his new room without any new clothes to change into, only the simple tracksuits from the med-room. He moved over to his bed along the wall and lay down, finally being able to have time to consciously sit still in a long while.

"So then, what do you think of the place?" Asked Kurt.

"Big" muttered Mark, sighing deeply.

"You should count yourself luck, most of the X-MEN are away on a mission, even I'd find it hard to handle meeting them after what you've been through today."

Mark let his mind wander, he let the thoughts he was thinking fade from his mind as he relaxed. Then memories began to fill his mind, the prison, the FOH. He immediately opened his eyes again and sat up straight.

"You ok?" asked Kurt

"Yeah, what do you do for fun around here?"

"Um, we go into Bayville I guess. Why? Thinking of going?"

"In these clothes?" he said, looking down at himself. "You must be joking!"

"I tell you what, until you get some new clothes, you can borrow some of mine, anything you want."

"I couldn't possibly…"

"I insist!"

"Thank you…again. I only really need a top and some trousers. Any will do."

Kurt pulled out the wanted clothes and passed them to Mark. "There you go, need anything else and don't be afraid to ask."

Once Mark was dressed, Kurt pushed a button on his watch, turning his skin white and hiding his tail, and making his fingers look human. The pair of them then headed off towards the city mall. Only once they had got there did Mark realise that he did not have any money at all. Kurt tried to offer him some but he couldn't accept it. Instead he had an idea.

They both went to the Starbucks on the upper floor of the mall and Kurt ordered two cups of coffee to go. Once the girl behind the counter had made them, she passed them over to the pair. Little did she know that Mark was about to move the liquid inside the cups to make them spill. They went all over the pair of them and the girl behind the counter suddenly started to panic.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, oh, ill pay for dry cleaning, here, ill go and get the manager."

Surely enough the Manager came and refunded the coffee's and gave more than enough money for the dry cleaning. With that, Mark and Kurt left the shop, only one of them with a slight smile on his face. They rounded a corner and Mark stopped Kurt.

"That's how you get money." He said.

"Yeah, but what about the clothes?"

Mark sighed and moved his hands over the stains. As if by magic, the coffee was sucked out of the fabric and then thrown on the floor beside them.

"Wow, that's a neat trick"

"Any liquid…" said Mark, pre-empting what Kurt was going to ask next.

Now they both had more money that what they started with and Mark had a chance to buy some of his own clothes. They went from shop to shop, looking for the right pair of jeans, and the right top. Kurt gave Mark all of his winnings, claiming that it was his idea, and he needed the money more than him.

Once the clothes were bought, Mark and Kurt set about trying to think of new scams to pull to get money. They went to the fair and won at the water shooter game, they did a couple more spill refunds in a number of café's and then they started to head back to the mansion and call it a day.

"Thanks for today Kurt, it was fun." Said Mark as they got back to their room.

Mark started to unpack the shopping he had bought as Kurt slumped on his own bed, he fuzzed back to his normal blue self and lay down.

"Damn it!" said Mark.

"What?"

"I forgot to get Boxers! I'm officially pant less!"

Kurt opened his bedside drawer and got something out and threw it to Mark. "Take these" he said.

"I cant wear your pants!" said Mark, shocked.

"Go on, you can keep them." He said with a little grin on the side of his face.

Mark looked away to hide the fact that he was turning the brightest red anyone could imagine.


	5. Four Days Later

**5**

**Four Days Later**

It had been four days since Kurt had given Mark his pants, and the boys mind was still filled with questions. What was the meaning of the grin on the side of Kurt's face? What was going through his mind when he had given Mark his pants and said he could keep them? Surely there was something behind that cheeky grin, something hiding in it.

Kurt had left the room soon after the incident with the pants, and Mark hadn't plucked up enough courage to ask him about it before he took to the corridors. Now it was too late.

When evening came he slowly trundled down to the dining room, rather absent mindedly. The table was a fourteen seater and it was packed, with only two spaces left. Mark sat in one that Kurt had saved him. This was the first time they had all had dinner together.

At the head of the table was Logan a.k.a. Wolverine, then clockwise was Beast, Shadowcat, then a space, Rogue, Gambit, Sunspot, Storm, Boom-Boom, then Kurt, and Mark, Havoc, Spyke and Angel.

Once the dinner was eaten, Mark helped clear up, and then went to his room, only to run into Boom-Boom on the way. She walked with him to the boy's wing, nattering in his ear the whole way. Mark could tell she was going to be one of those annoying types straight from the start, and this just proved it.

"So then, Mark, shackin' up with the fuzzy dude I hear." She said, trailing behind him.

"Yeah, that's right." He replied half heartedly.

"Cool, cool, pretty lucky, although, I guess you don't appreciate that sorta thing like I would."

"Sure"

"…Yeah…pretty crazy around here sometimes…sure you can handle it?"

Mark stopped at the top of the stairs where he would turn a different way from the Tabitha girl and be rid of her. "Positive" he said, walking away, leaving her standing on her own.

Mark made it to the room he was staying in, closed the door and then leant against it, heaving a sigh of relief that he was alone. He had a chance to think again, away from the hustle and bustle of the others. The silence was calming, and welcoming, it was almost as though it was…

Mark's thought trail was rudely interrupted by a loud 'BAMF' sound, followed by a waft of purple smoke as Nightcrawler teleported into the room. The sudden sound had made Mark jump out of his skin, and now he was sat, slightly hunched and breathing heavily, holding his chest.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Said Kurt, walking past him to sit on his own bed. Mark sat there for a while, staring at the attractive blue man, hardly realising that he was transfixed, that was until Kurt looked up at Mark and smiled at him, causing him to look away and blush. In order to cover up his brightening cheeks he decided to start putting things away in the chest of drawers that he had next to his bed.

Behind him, Kurt slumped on the bed and shut his eyes with an almighty sigh, Mark turned discretely to see his room-mate sprawled across the bed. Nightcrawler's top had been pulled up when he laid back and now Mark could see his slim and alluring waist.

The sight sent shivers down Marks spine, making him blush even more brightly. He carried on putting clothes away, filling the drawers until all his garments were neatly concealed. Now he had no way to hide the blush on his face, he had to turn around.

He slyly moved over to the bed, trying desperately not to draw attention to his face. However, he failed abysmally.

"What's that on your face?" asked the German inquisitively. "Are you blushing?" he asked.

"No!" Mark lied, making his cheeks go even pinker. He lay down on the bed and faced the other way so Kurt could not see his face, but instead the elf boy just walked across the room and peered over Mark's shoulder.

"You are! Why?" he asked, beaming at the blushee.

"I don't know, I'm not!" he said, struggling to hide his rosy cheeks, laying face down and digging his face deep into his pillow.

Kurt looked at Mark momentarily and then decided to climb onto him and lay over him. The feel of the other on his back sent sparks of excitement through Mark's body. He didn't know what to do, so he just lay there, continuing to hide his ever reddening face.

"You blushing even more aren't you? I can tell, it's me isn't it?" He stated with a triumphant hint in his voice.

"What, no!"

"It is! Aww… I feel so special." Kurt said, tucking his arms underneath Mark and holding him tightly. He hugged him for a moment and then ducked down to lightly place a kiss on Mark's semi-exposed cheek.

Slowly Mark turned to look at Kurt, who looked straight back unflinchingly. They stayed there for a while, looking into each others eyes before Kurt decided to move in again, this time for Mark's lips.

Mark rolled over to completely face the mutant. Kurt nestled in between the others legs as he wrapped them around the elf. Mark ran his hand through Kurt's hair and kissed passionately.

Kurt responded by running his hand along Mark's leg which was hoisted up on his back. He gently rubbed his crotch against the others causing Mark to let out a small gasp at what he felt against him.

Mark slipped Kurt's first shirt off, tossing it to the floor. Kurt pulled away from the kissing so he could pull his undershirt over his head, exposing his perfectly formed torso.

Mark pulled him back down to kiss him as the elf began to unbutton the teenagers shirt and slide it from his shoulders. After removing his legs from around Kurt he began to move his hands down from his lovers back to the insides of his pants.

Together they moved, and kissed, and moaned into the night.


	6. The First Day Of School

**6**

**First Day Of School**

Ororo had enlisted him in the local high school, Bayville High, and today was his first day. All of the other teens went there, and it sounded nice.

Mark was sat in his room, thinking about going downstairs, and then off to school. The lessons he was taking were Sociology, Ancient History, Philosophy and English. They were as close to the subjects he was doing at college before he left his home.

Finally with a last surge of will, Mark grabbed his new bag and hung it on his shoulders and left the room. He walked down the completely empty halls.

Surprisingly, the halls were deserted; there was no-one in the corridors, no-one in the downstairs rooms, no-one outside when Mark looked out of the windows. The entire Mansion was empty, was this usual?

Mark got to the top of the stairs and stopped. He looked down the halls on either side of him, and then he looked down to the main hall below him. Everything was eerily quiet, too quiet.

In the distance Mark began to hear a faint hissing sound, it was getting closer, and closer. The teen span on the spot just in time to see a stranger in a yellow one-piece with a tank on his back smile at him, before launching a gargantuan fireball at him.

Mark lifted the water out of the vases on either side of him and tried to spread it and make an ice shield, but it was to thin, and melted immediately. The blast knocked mark backwards and over the edge of the stairs. In quick response, Mark used the water to spin himself round in mid-flight, and then used it to slide down the stairs.

Once he was at the bottom of the stairs he ran, as fast as he could towards the door. There was an almighty crash at the door was ripped of its hinges by a morbidly obese man with an evil look in his eye's.

"I AM THE BLLLOOOOOOBBBBBBB!" he yelled.

Mark turned and ran towards the lift that would take him to the sub-basement. Waiting for him when he got there was Kitty. The frightened teen ran to her and then began to drag her towards the lift.

"Come on, we have to hide" he shouted.

Once they were in the lift, Mark heaved a sigh of relief and turned to Kitty. However, when he looked at there, it was not the girl he thought it was. Instead there was a blue woman. She hit him squarely in the chest, causing him to fall backwards and slide down to the floor. She pulled out a gun and pointed it at his head, she smiled, and then pulled the trigger.

Everything flashed with a blue light, and then there was nothing. Mark was sat on the floor in the middle of a big empty room. A voice rung out on the speakers overhead.

"Well done Mark, you got further this time, its time for school though, off you go." Said the voice of Storm.

Mark did as he was told. He left the danger room and headed for the showers. Soon after he was on his way to school, bag in hand. The route was fairly simple, and Mark had been told how to get there plenty of times over the past few days.

Halfway along the journey, Mark ran into Kurt and some other teens that Mark didn't recognise.

"Mark, I'm glad you're here, I thought I ought to wait for you." And he said goodbye to the teens he was with and then walked Mark to Bayville High.

The campus was much nicer than the college he went to in England. Not only that, but it was just what Mark had been expecting, it was so American. There were lockers that filled the hallways and classrooms that had single place desks.

The first class of the day was Ancient History, so Kurt dropped him off at the classroom it was in and then headed off for his own lesson.

Mark was already doing Classical Civilisation in England and because the American version was slightly different, he had to join a first year class. All of the stuff being covered was so easy compared to what Mark new, so the lesson was more of a revision session than anything else.

He already knew about Metopes and Stylobates, he knew about the Panethenaic festival and Solon's Laws. He stunned the teacher with his knowledge and the class just looked at him with as much loathing as Mark had for the syllabus.

Luckily Mark had not taken sociology, philosophy and English at AS level and he knew just as much as the others in his class.

"Remember class, the tickets for the Halloween Dance are still on sale so get them while you can." Said the teacher as the lesson drew to an end. Mark paid little attention and packed away his books and notes that he had taken.

Kurt was already outside waiting for Mark as he left the room. They both headed back to the Mansion together, talking of their days. About half way home, Kurt asked Mark a question.

"So then, are you going to the Halloween Dance?" he asked. Mark simply looked at him and laughed. "What? What's so funny."

"I'm sorry, I don't dance"

"Neither do I, but I was thinking that maybe we can not dance together."

Mark thought about it long and hard, and then he thought about going to the Dance with Kurt, finally he decided he would go, on the slight off chance that it might be fun.


	7. The Halloween Dance

**7**

**The Halloween Dance**

The night of the dance was here and the students all gradually got more and more worked up. The dance was fancy dress, which made things much easier and gave the teens more choice of what to wear.

Nearly all of the residents of the mansion (that went to Bayville High) were going, all except Rogue, Spyke and Boom-boom. The news of Tabitha not going was like music to everyone else's ears.

Mark was pretty exited about the upcoming dance and didn't have a clue what he would be wearing. He still only had a small collection of clothes, so he had to do the best he could with the best he had.

Kurt said he would meet Mark in the front hall of the Mansion, and they would go to Bayville High from there. He had deliberately kept his costume a secret from Mark, saying it was a surprise, so Mark decided to do the same.

It had taken him a good deal of time browsing and scouring the countless Fancy-Dress, Charity and random shops in Bayville, but Mark had eventually managed to find a good enough costume.

Mark had decided to go as Link from the Legend of Zelda games. He had found a green tunic in a fancy dress shop, along with some white tights. He got a white top, some boots and gloves from charity shops and he got some fake elf ears, fabric to make a hat and a sword and shield from other bizarre shops.

All together they looked great, and Mark couldn't wait to see what Kurt was wearing. He put all the parts of his costume on and went downstairs. Kitty was dressed as an 18th Century Lady, Alex was a pretty convincing Mummie, Bobby Drake was dressed as Dracula and Tabitha was a Witch…she was dressed as one too. Evan was as distasteful as always and had decided to dress up as Hitler.

Mark's eyes searched for Kurt, looking everywhere without drawing too much attention to it. There was no sign of the boy and Mark decided to talk to Alex until Kurt showed up.

Before long there was a familiar hand on his shoulder and Mark turned around to see Kurt in full costume. He was dressed as a rather dashing Pirate, and it looked surprisingly good on him.

"Hey, I wondered where you were" Sid Mark, smiling. "Nice costume"

"You too" he said. "You look good in tights…" he added quietly so no-one else could hear.

"Silence" said Mark jokingly. "What time does this thing start then?"

"Seven, shall we leave?"

"If you want."

Together they left the others and walked slowly to the High School. Once they were down the road a little way, Kurt took Mark's hand and moved closer to him. All around them were little children trick or treating. They all looked so hellish and evil, and then there were the costumes.

Mark usually liked children, but not when they were foraging for sweets; that was when they got really vicious.

When Kurt and Mark arrived, there was a really strange old man as the DJ and he was playing really loud and crazy dance music that made the pair laugh. They just sat for a while, shouting over the music, laughing at strange dancers and telling jokes.

Eventually the DJ changed the music and put on fun dance music, such as the Macarena and The Timewarp. Kurt still didn't want to dance to them, so Mark made him. Even if he said he didn't dance, he did to these, everyone had to!

It took Mark the fist halves of the songs to teach Kurt the dance moves, but eventually he got the hang of them and they danced together for the last half. These songs took up the good part of the night and soon there was only a few people there.

This was when the DJ decided to put some time in for slow dances. Everyone seemed to pair up almost instantly. Kitty and Evan, Bobby and Tabitha, Rogue and Lance. Kurt started to walk of the dance floor, but Mark grabbed his hand and pulled him back into an embrace to the sound of Ronan Keating.

"People will see"

"Then let them see, its late, no-one cares, it's just a dance."

Kurt pulled away again. This time Mark didn't pull him back, realising Kurt really didn't want to dance. He went to follow him but the boy had gone, he had stormed off.

Mark went to sit at a table on the sidelines. What had he done that was so bad? Kurt was overreacting to the extreme. After a few minutes Mark got bored and decided to go looking for the fuzz ball.

Kurt himself had in fact gotten so embarrassed he decided to go outside to be alone. It was unlike him to be embarrassed, and he realised that he liked Mark so much he had become nervous and scared, something that had never happened before.

Sadly, Amanda had seen him heading outside and had followed him. She clearly had the hots for Kurt, but he just didn't feel anything for her. She came and sat beside him and started to talk.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, its just a bit hot in there, that's all."

"Tell me about it." She said, leaving a long pause before continuing to talk. "I'm glad you came, it was nice to see you. I like your costume too, its cool."

"Thanks, yours is nice too." He replied, not wanting to sound rude.

"Kurt…" she said, looking at the boy.

"Yes…" he replied, looking back.

She slowly moved closer, and then planted a kiss on his lips. Kurt was so unsure of what was going on he did nothing to react. Instead, Mark reacted for him, because he had just walked in to find Kurt kissing someone else, after just storming away from him, this did not look good and Kurt knew it!

"Oh dear god…Mark!!!" he called as he ran after the escaping teen.

Mark ran as hard as he could, sprinting though the dance hall, knocking Alex down, unable to see him due to the amount of tears flowing from his eyes. He ran all the way back to the mansion, filled with a sudden sense of loathing for Kurt. In his anger and distress, he began to throw all his worldly necessities into his school bag before slinging it over his shoulder and striding out of the door.

He had nowhere to go, and he knew it. He got to the door and it was not Kurt who greeted him. It was in fact someone different altogether. The look on his face was sort of understanding, and on the same level as the boy. Mark did not want to stop though, so he kept on walking

"Where ya' goin' kiddo?" Asked Logan, walking in front of the door.

"I… I don't know." He said honestly. Logan grabbed him as he tried to get past, holding him tightly. Mark thrashed about wildly, desperately trying to break free. Tears still streaming from his eyes. "Let go of me! ... Let… Let go…" he shouted, struggling in the arms of Wolverine.

Eventually the tears and sadness got the better of him and he sank to the ground, Logan going with him, still holding him tightly, attempting to console him. Mark slumped into Logan's embrace, crying with no sign of end.

Not long after Logan caught Mark, the rest of the residents turned up, including Kurt. By this point the messy haired, puffy eyed and sniffing teen was sat in front of the fire, knee's held to his chest, gazing deep into the flames. He failed to notice Kurt come in, but when the boy sat next to him, he promptly got up to leave.

Kurt followed him pleading. "It wasn't what it looked like, I swear, I'm sorry!"

"Seal it Kurt! I don't want to talk to you at the moment."

"Please!" he said, stepping in front of Mark.

"Leave me alone!" He shouted, using a vase full of nearby water to slap the blue youth, leaving him shocked for a moment before he continued his efforts to follow Mark.

"Hey, leave the kid alone Kurt! I don't know what didn't look like what it looked like, and quite frankly I don't think its any of my business, but whatever it is you need to give him time." Said Rogue, once again giving him good advice.


	8. Support

**8**

**Support**

When Kurt eventually went to bed, Mark wasn't there, and he wasn't surprised in the least to not see his sleeping form on the bed across from his own.

Mark was in fact sitting by his favourite spot in the whole Mansion, the pool. He liked to sit there when he was bored, or troubled. He would sit and use his powers to play with the water, making all the shapes he could think of out of the twinkling blue liquid.

Alex saw him sat on his own and decided to go and see if he was alright. The night was no doubt getting cold so he got a blanket and took it out with him. Mark looked at him as he moved around the poolside towards him.

"Hey" Alex said. "You looked cold, so I brought you this blanket" he said, handing Mark the warming layer.

"Thanks" Mark replied, taking what was given to him.

They sat for a while, appreciating the silence. Alex was the first one to break the silence.

"So then, if you don't mind me asking, what was that all about with Kurt?"

"I do mind you asking… Sorry, it's complicated."

"Hey that's cool man, sure thing."

Mark smiled weakly as he formed the shape of an ejaculating penis. Alex noticed the liquid diagram and let out a little laugh.

"Nice." He said. "Fancy a swim?"

"What?"

"It always cheers me up."

"But its freezing" said Mark, feeling the icy clearness of the water as he dipped his hand into it.

"I can change that…" Replied Havoc as he dunked a glowing hand into the pool. Mark felt the warmth hit his hand almost immediately.

"Pretty good I have to admit, but I'm not changed."

"So what? Come on." He said, sliding into the water, still in his Mummie bandages.

Mark laughed faintly and looked at himself.

"Swim in this costume?"

"You could always swim without it, but I don't think that would go down so well ya' know."

Mark giggled, looking at Alex, the wet Mummie.

"I'm fine in the dry tonight thank you."

Alex didn't want to take no for an answer, so he waded up to Mark and grabbed his hands. He pulled as hard as he could, yanking the dressed up teen into the warm water.

He was filled with shock that Alex would as far as to pull him into the water, but still, it happened and there was nothing he could do about it other than chase the other in an attempt to dunk him under the surface. After a while of chasing him, he got bored and realised he had powers.

Using all his energy he sent Alex into the air with a surge of water, causing him to land with an almighty splash. After the teen recovered, he went chasing after Mark, who pinched a tiny bit of water on the end of the roll of bandage covering Alex. He yanked the water, which in turn yanked the bandage.

Alex span in circles (helped along by Mark's powers) as the wrappings came undone, leaving him incredibly dizzy in his boxers and a loose beige shirt. Mark could do no more than laugh at him as he stumbled around the pool.

The American full under the surface and began to move towards Mark, who realised all too late, being dragged under the water by a pair of hands that wrapped around his ankles.

Slowly the hands moved from Mark's ankles, up his calves, along his thighs, across his waist. Soon Alex was at the same level as the other, and slowly he moved closer, and connected his lips with Mark's.

The kiss was so good, but Mark felt wrong. He felt as though he was betraying Kurt somehow, he had to leave no matter how much he didn't want to. He slid away from Alex's lips and rose to the surface, beginning to walk away. Alex was soon to follow.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I cant do this."

"Why? Because of Kurt?"

"No… Yes… I don't know!"

"Your not doing anything wrong, are you? He did it to you… I can tell."

Mark stopped dead in his tracks, allowing Alex to wade up behind him. He tucked his arms under Mark's and held him, just like Kurt did the first time.

"I know it's late, and I know you're upset." Alex began "I know your plans don't include me. Still, here we are, why should we worry, no-one would care! We've got tonight… at least give me that."

Mark listened to what Alex said, agreeing inside with everything he said. He turned to face the soaked teen.

"You're right, I don't owe him anything, not anymore." He said, brushing the wet hair from Alex's face. He kissed him gently on the lips, almost as an act of sealing the deal, however, somewhere deep inside, it felt like it was as hard as signing his own death warrant.


	9. Hydro

**9**

**Hydro**

Morning began to peer gently over the top of the windowsill, the early light falling onto Mark's face. He slowly began to stir, realising he was not alone. He opened his eyes to see a young blond handsome teenager sleeping peacefully in the bed with him.

Mark had not gone back to his room last night, not only because he wanted to spend the night with Alex, but because he wouldn't be able to face Kurt, not yet. Although he had gotten into bed with the surfer, he had done nothing other than kiss him. He felt his relationship with Alex purely supportive at the moment, it was far to soon to become involved with anyone else, even if he had only been with Kurt for a few weeks before he had seen him kissing someone else.

Gently, Mark crept out of the bed, not wanting to wake the sleeping form that he was wrapped around. A small groan and signs of movement showed that he had failed his task.

"Hey" mumbled Alex.

"Hey" replied Mark, smiling.

Mark stopped trying to escape, letting Alex hold him. Even if he didn't want a relationship yet, he knew he would want one in the not too distant future, Alex had some way of making him feel happy, and content.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks, I was just about to get up, but…"

"But what?"

"I like it here…" Mark said, placing a small kiss on Alex's lips.

Together they lay there for a while, holding each other, not wanting to move. When they did, they left the room at different times so as not to draw attention to each other, and then went down to breakfast separately.

The kitchen was practically empty, hardly anyone got up at the same time, unless they were going to school that day, which on a Saturday, none of them were.

Kurt wasn't at breakfast which Mark was half pleased about, and half saddened. He was calming down about last night and he would have liked to have had the opportunity to talk to the boy. This opportunity however was not given to him.

The morning was quiet and Mark spent most of it doodling in his book he had been given by his best friend Jenny. He had been thinking about her a lot lately, wondering what she was doing, and wondering if she was thinking about him too. He hadn't been given a chance to say goodbye to her. He hadn't even said goodbye to his Mother, or his sister.

All of this extra thought on the people he loved made him make a choice, and so Mark began to write a letter to his family, to tell them where he was and that he was fine.

**Dear Mum and Dad, and Sarah.**

**I'm sorry****I haven't been writing, but I've been up to a lot. I don't know how to say this, but I've kind of eloped, on my own, to America. Its all been a rush really. Dad, I hope you're not too angry things haven't gone to your likings, but I'm my own person and I can go anywhere I want. Mum, I've missed you so much and I hope your ok. Sarah, I do hope you're managing to cope without me. Could you ring Jenny and send her my friendly love and such. Miss you, goodbye…**

Mark finished the letter and took an envelope from the drawer. He knew he couldn't say about what his dad had done to him, it would tear the family apart which he didn't want to be held responsible for. He sealed the letter away, and headed out to the shops to buy a stamp to post it.

Everything in the mansion seemed so calm since last nights drama, and the outside world was exactly the same. The streets were almost deserted, and it gave Mark time alone to think about what he was going to do next.

The shopkeeper was miserable as usual and looked at Mark with disdain when he asked him for postal stamps. Once they were bought, the boy headed down to the post box at the end of the road and slid the letter into the container.

The roads leading back to the Mansion seemed slightly less deserted on the return trip, and Mark soon realised there was a gathering force outside the gates. Media news vans from all over town had homed in on the building and were now recording a commotion within the grounds.

There were familiar colours moving about on the front lawn. Distinctive reds and blues that signalled the Friends of Humanity. It was almost as though they were trying to hunt him down, purposefully ruin Mark's life. At first he wanted to run and hide, until he saw a face he did not expect to see. In the fray there was a girl, a blonde girl that Mark knew.

It was his best friend Jenny, she was here! However, something was wrong, she was not just there; she was fighting. Not only was she fighting; she was fighting the X-MEN.

Jenny had been Mark's friend since year 7 at school back home and in those 6 years of knowing her, she had never displayed the fact that she had powers, even when Mark showed her his. However here she was, using powers that were not… usual.

Mark ran closer, through the crowd, and when he was near enough he saw what she was doing. She was fighting with water, just like he did! She fought the mutants that Mark now lived with, she fought alongside the Friends of Humanity which was even more peculiar.

"Jenny?" Mark called.

She didn't look at first, so Mark kept calling her, over and over again until she looked in his direction. There was something the matter with her eyes. Usually they were an icy blue, but now they were even lighter, they seemed almost white. Mark realised she was definitely not herself when she sent a torrent of water in his direction, knocking him off his feet.

"Jenny! What are you doing?" Called Mark, dodging her attacks but refusing to strike back. She continued to relentlessly assault the boy who would not hit his friend.

"My name is not Jenny!" She shouted in return. "I am Hydro!"

Mark began to stop the water Jenny was using and throw it at the surrounding soldiers. Eventually they were loosing the battle, struggling to fight the Mutants that were defending their home.

Boom-Boom threw one of her bombs at the attacking girl, but Mark tossed it aside with a jet of water. Soon after that Havoc sent a blast of energy in the female's direction and Mark felt obliged to lift her out of the way of the oncoming strike.

"What are you doing?" He called to Mark.

"I can't let you hurt her! She's my best friend!" He replied.

With the diminishing amounts of soldiers at the Friends of Humanities expense, they soon called a withdraw, allowing Mark to stop protecting his friend, and start to take abuse from the rest of the team.


	10. One Fight To Another

**10**

**One Fight to Another**

"What the hell was that all about?" Yelled Bobby, returning to his slouching position on the sofa.

"I'm sorry, I know here, and that wasn't her, she was being controlled or something."

"Yeah whatever!"

"Its not that difficult to believe, it's happened before, remember Stryker and Alkali lake?" Commented Storm, putting her hand on Mark's shoulder. "You did the right thing."

Mark looked at Ororo in a way that said thank you and then began to put up with the others scorn once more. Storm took Mark by the hand and led him away from the others, taking him to the lift to the sub-basement. She silently pressed the button and the elevator began to descend.

"I was not thinking of doing this for a while, but you showed you were capable of making decisions and doing the right thing." She finally said, breaking the quiet of the confined space.

"Do what?"

"How do you feel about becoming one of the X-Men? We had a suit to fit you a while ago, but I wasn't going to show you until you were ready."

"Really, a hero?"

"A Defender."

Upstairs the conversation about Mark's decision still raged. Bobby refused to admit that the girl may have been controlled and Tabitha was disappointed that she didn't get to blow her up.

"Leave him alone!" called someone from the back of the crowd. Everyone turned to see Kurt stood in the corner, looking annoyed at the fact that they would blame Mark. "He did the right thing! I can't believe you are all sat here squabbling when he was trying to save lives!"

Bobby snorted and looked away, resulting in Kurt walking over to him and punching him in the face.

"How can you let yourselves do this!" he said, addressing everyone. "Am I the only one who cares?"

"You make a pretty god job of showing it! Your not the only one Kurt, stop making yourself out to be so hard done by!" Yelled Alex from the other side of the room.

"I'm not the one who shot at this friend of his!"

"I had no idea she was his friend, if I did I wouldn't have done it would I?" Alex argued.

"Your just one mistake after the other aren't you!"

"Coming from you that's rich man, I know all about what you did, how can you do that to someone!"

"You have no idea what your talking about!"

"I know plenty!"

"SHUT IT!"

Alex was shocked at the ferocity in Kurt's voice. Even if he didn't do anything and it all was a mix up between him and Mark, how could he sit back and let him go with him if he got this angry about it.

"What's your problem man?" Alex asked.

"You're the problem!"

"Me?"

"I've seen you around him! Talk about diving straight in there, there's only one other thing that does that, and that's a vulture!"

"What he does and who he chooses to spend time with is his business isn't it!"

"Do you expect me to sit by and let him be mis-treated by the likes of you!" Threatened Kurt.

"Do you expect me to sit by and let you control his life?" Argued Alex.

The two teenage boys leaped into battle with one another, using their mutant powers against each other. Kurt began to run at Alex, who defended himself by a blast of energy, which in turn was dodged as Kurt bamfed out of the way and let the blast tear a hole through the wall at the end of the room. Kurt ended up on the other side of Alex and he started to kick him closer and closer toward the edge. Eventually Alex was pushed through the hole and into the foyer.

The fight continued and caused severe damage in the lobby, due to the fact that Alex was blasting away and Kurt was dodging it all, which let the blasts carry on into walls, paintings, pillars, ceilings and windows. Finally Alex managed to land a blast right in the centre of Kurt's chest which winded him and sent him flying out through a once unbroken window.

Kurt leaped up and grabbed Alex by the throat. He leant over him and began to punch him repeatedly, causing the boys nose to bleed, and lip to split.

"STOP!!!" called Mark as he sprinted over to the pair. The look of horror on his face was indescribable; he was unable to even comprehend what Kurt hade done to Alex. The trail of damage was appalling, as was Mark's view of Kurt. He pushed the German away and helped Alex up, putting an arm under his shoulder.

Kurt paused, looking at his hands for a moment, before he ran after Mark, up the steps to the wrecked foyer, trying to apologise.

"Mark, I'm so sorry, I didn't…"

Kurt was cut short by Mark's fist in his face. He fell to the floor, landing on the entrance stairs. Mark looked down at him for a moment, tears in his eyes.

"Its not me you need to apologise to, not anymore."

Mark turned and left, taking Alex to his room so he could rest.


	11. Recovery

**11**

**Recovery**

It had been a rough night for Alex but Mark had never left his side. He remained close to him, tending to his wounds, dabbing damp cloths of the cuts and holding ice to the newly forming bruises.

Mark quite happily waited on Alex, hand and foot, refusing to let him get anything himself. To be honest, Mark longed for the job, not wanting to stop to think about what a mess he was in at the moment.

The weekend seemed to fly past, resulting in Mark not being prepared for Mondays lessons. He rushed about in the last few hours of the night and the first few of the morning to get all his work sorted out in time.

There was hardly any point in Mark going to school, as all he could think about was getting back to the Mansion to care for Alex. He floated through lessons and went to see Alex's teachers to get work he had to do while he was away.

Alex didn't take much time off school, not enjoying the fact that he was being left behind by everyone during the day. He ended up going in on the Thursday of that week, having only taken three days off.

Everyone was talking about him, he could tell. He wasn't particularly surprised as he was covered in bruises and his nose was wrapped in dressing, protecting it while he healed.

Mark was surprised to see him up and about so early, and after a small comment on how he should be in bed still, he got on with it and relished seeing Alex was alright.

"It's nice to see you in school" Said Mark, sitting down for lunch with him, laying the tray on the table and sliding into the seat.

"It's nice to be in school" Said Alex, joining him. "Wow, I never thought I'd say that."

Things hadn't, and were not likely to have, gotten any better between Kurt and Mark. So many things had happened to him over the past few days, the Halloween ball, Kurt and Alex's fight, and Jenny. Mark had completely forgotten about her, everything kicked off after that and he had his mind on other things.

Why on earth would Jenny be working with the FOH? Mark sat listening to Alex in the canteen while he reminisced in his mind about what he had done with Jenny in the past, all the good times he had spent with her, all the arguments they had.

"Hey, are you ok man?" asked Alex, noticing Mark's mind was elsewhere.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking about Jenny, I'm worried about her."

"I'm sure she's fine" said Alex.

Mark saw a familiar face as Kurt walked by. He glanced at the pair as he went past, and he knew not to stop. Mark, however, had finally decided to talk to him, to confront him and get everything out in the open.

Mark got out of his chair, patting Alex on the shoulder on the way past.

"I'll be right back."

Alex didn't argue, and he watched Mark disappear around the corner after Kurt.

"Hey! Kurt!" Called Mark. "Wait a second."

Kurt looked behind him to see Mark running up towards him. At first he wanted to keep on walking, all he had done was care for Mark and this was how he repaid him. Luckily he decided against it and waited for the boy.

"Kurt, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while."

"Go on…"

"Well, I'm sorry about the… the punch… does it hurt much?" Asked Mark, hoping the other would say no.

"No, you're a shit punch." Kurt lied, trying to show how pissed off he was. Mark however let out a little snigger.

"Good, I'm glad" he chuckled.

Although what Kurt had said was meant to be nasty, he couldn't help but laugh with Mark. He had forgotten how happy he made him feel.

"I… I…" stuttered Kurt.

"Yes?" Asked Mark, eager to hear what he was about to say.

"I'm sorry about the fight… I shouldn't have hit Alex."

"Oh…" Mark was hoping Kurt would say something else, and was disappointed with what came out instead. "Well, I…"

"Yes?" asked Kurt, eager to hear what Mark had to say.

"I… really should be getting back…"

"Oh…"

Mark turned to walk away. He did it slowly, to see if Kurt had anything else he wanted to say. Kurt waited a moment, then called after him, swallowing his fear.

"Do you love him?"

Mark turned, just as slowly as he did before, a look of slight shock on his face, but also something else.

"I…" Mark began, thinking carefully of what he was going to say next. "I don't know." Was the best he could come up with.

"Why? Why did you go with him if you don't know?"

"I was angry. I saw you with Amanda and I flipped, I'm sorry Kurt. Alex really cares about me."

"I really care about you!" He called, a little too loud, causing students in the corridor to turn and look at him, which then in turn caused him to go bright red.

Mark smiled at Kurt, giggling a little at him.

"What? I couldn't hear you?"

Kurt walked up to Mark and got on one knee, taking his hand. Mark laughed in embarrassment before Kurt's said…

"I love you"

The smile was slowly faded from Mark's face. He didn't know what to say, he still had feelings for Kurt, but what about Alex.

"I… I can't…"

"Oh, I see."

"No wait… I can't think of anyone I'd rather have who cares about me… but I can't just leave Alex."

"I could punch him again if you want?" Kurt said sarcastically, causing Mark to laugh again.

"I don't think that will work."

"Then lets work it out later, don't worry about it at the minute."

"What?"

"I'll meet you after school, in my room, 4:00." Said Kurt, kissing Mark's hand before getting up and leaving him stood there, awestruck.


End file.
